


A Spiderling for a Dragon

by chlodobird



Series: The Dragon of Hell's Kitchen [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dragon AU, Fluff, Human Disaster Matt Murdock, M/M, Precious Peter Parker, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:34:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23103307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlodobird/pseuds/chlodobird
Summary: Matt is surprised when Queen's most recent vigilante is chased into Hell's Kitchen, and he realizes Spider-Man is just a kid. A bubbly, enthusiastic kid. If he's going to fight anyway, might as well try to keep him from getting killed.
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Matt Murdock & May Parker (Spider-Man), Matt Murdock & Peter Parker, Matt Murdock/Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker
Series: The Dragon of Hell's Kitchen [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660564
Comments: 14
Kudos: 450





	1. You're Just A Baby! Go Home!

Matt wasn’t an idiot. He knew there was a new vigilante on the streets. Spider-Man seemed to stick mostly to Queens, but ventured further into Manhattan when he needed to. Not like Matt, who stayed within Hell’s Kitchen’s borders almost exclusively. He didn’t go looking for trouble, there was plenty to be found in his own neighbourhood.

When the new guy swung into the Kitchen, Matt toyed briefly with the idea of chasing him out. He dropped it as soon as he heard what had chased the vigilante so far afield.

Engines screamed in a set of metal wings as the man soared through the air. The scent of oil and circuits hung heavy in the air. Matt chased them, tapping into his dragon side for a boost in speed and endurance. No one knew yet that Daredevil was a dragon, and he wanted to keep it that way, but a little bit of inhuman strength wasn’t out of place in a city with heroes like Captain America and Thor.

He caught up quickly and trailed them. He listened to the insect-themed vigilante toss quips at the man with the wings, and the annoyed replies. Spider-Man had obviously been on the receiving end of the wickedly sharp wingtips that whistled through the air, because the iron smell of blood clung to his wide arcs, and he seemed less energetic than he should be. Matt put on a little more speed.

The chase turned onto a different street, and Matt took the opportunity to throw himself onto the pursuer. He used the advantage of surprise as much as he could, pummeling the stranger. He couldn’t get good leverage, though, and though his hits were strong, he couldn’t use his skills as much as he would have liked.

He growled when the other man started trying to hit back. It was hard to dodge while holding onto the person throwing punches, and the man threw him off onto a nearby rooftop. Matt hit the ground running, and kept following the fight until the pair crashed through an empty warehouse roof.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, Vulture! You should really be more talon-ted after all the practice you had beating me up at Coney Island!”

The man laughed, and tossed the vigilante across the room. The insect spun to land safely, but the Vulture started speaking. “You’re right, Peter Parker,” he hissed, obviously intending for only Spider-Man to hear. “I should introduce a new variable.” He raised his voice, and shouted, “It’s time!”

Matt tilted his head, and heard a strange humming. Electric boots, maybe? Whatever it was, it was headed straight for the warehouse at an almost alarming speed.

He slipped in through the hole in the roof, and ran lightly along the rafters to wait for a moment to strike.

The new guy burst in through the side of the warehouse in an explosion of splinters and torn metal. Spider-Man dodged, but the awe in his voice outweighed the exhaustion. “Whoa!” he said excitedly while avoiding punches. “Who are you?”

The new guy didn’t respond, but Vulture sighed. “The Prowler,” he explained. He caught the little vigilante the tall new guy threw at him, barely batting an eye and he hurled the wall-crawler to the ground.

Evidently, they’ve done this before, if the Vulture was already used to Spider-Man’s puns.

Matt decided it was probably time to step in, and dropped down onto the Prowler from the ceiling. He got in two good hits before getting thrown off, and they began trading blows.

“Whoa, is that Daredevil?” Spider-Man said, his voice muffled by the broken ground.

Vulture was on him before he could continue, and Matt redirected his focus to the fight. Prowler was strong with the help of his humming suit, and fast, but he didn’t have the training Matt did.

It took about thirty seconds, but Matt put Prower out of commission, and tilted his head to listen to how the other fight was going. Spider-Man was still going, but was losing steam. Matt grinned, and listened for the hum of the circuit breaker. One thrown club later, the lights went out.

“What the fuck?” the Vulture spat. “What did you do?”

“Wasn’t me!”

Matt hurled a stick at the man’s back, hitting the power source for his wings dead in the center. With them incapacitated, it was easy to knock the idiot out. Spider-Man muttered, “Karen, turn on night-vision?”

The suit shifted its hum, and Spider-Man straightened up in surprise. “Oh! You got him!”

“Yeah,” Matt shrugged. He focused on the smell of blood. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine, I heal fast,” the vigilante said awkwardly. He perked up a little when he remembered who he was talking to. “Dude, you’re so cool. The way you took down Fisk? Amazing.”

Matt tilted his head at him, and listened to his heartbeat. Wait. “You’re just a kid?” he blurted.

“No!” The boy’s voice cracking on the word didn’t help his case. “I’m an adult!”

“You’re maybe sixteen, max.”

“I’m- I’m twenty!”

He didn’t need to be able to hear the kid’s heartbeat to tell that he was lying. “You’re a shit liar, you know? What’s your real age?”

“Seventeen?”

Matt’s stony silence was enough to push the teen into telling the truth. “Fine, I’m fifteen, but that’s old enough! I’m not looking to do any Avengers level stuff, I just want to make Queens a little better.”

“Would telling you to quit do anything?” he said, a little helplessly.

“No,” the teenager admitted.

He strode closer to the kid- what did Vulture say his name was, Peter Parker?- and listened to his heart thump a little more nervously. Two supervillains, and the snarky teen was fine, but faced with another vigilante, he got nervous? He focused, and winced. “The big cut on your back is going to need stitches. It’s pretty deep.”

“I heal too fast for stitches,” he protested.

“ _And_ you have a second cut above it that’s pretty long.”

“I’m fine!”

Matt shook his head. “Come on, I can stitch you up.”

“Thanks!” he said, a smile making its way into his voice. “Hey, so where did you learn to fight like that? Because I still don’t know a lot about fighting, I mostly punch and dodge their punches, but you actually have like, martial arts and stuff. Can you teach me? Oh! And you took down that network of arsonists a few months ago! How do you take down mobs and syndicates and stuff? Queens has a ton of criminals that I’m not really sure what to do about. Every time I give one of them to the police, they just find more people to work for them.”

“Wait, you want me to train you?” Oh, hell no. “I don’t do the child soldier thing.”

“I’m not a child!”

Matt paused to recollect his thoughts. “Why do you want to learn to fight?”

“I want to make my neighbourhood safer.”

“Why?” Matt crossed his arms, shifting into cross-examination mode.

“So people don’t get hurt?”

“No. Why does it have to be you? Why not let someone older do it?”

“I have powers! And I’m smart, and this is the only way I could help Queens.”

“It’s not. You could get a good education, invent something to make life easier for people here.”

The kid’s heartbeat sped up. “Can’t I do both? Don’t you have a life outside your mask?”

“But why?”

“Because! Because if people are hurting, I’m going to help them! No matter what!”

Matt tilted his head. Truth. “I’ll train you.”

“But you- wait, what? Really?” he said, cautiously optimistic. Matt wondered if the bubbly teen had asked someone else for guidance at first, and been disappointed.

“You’re not gonna like training, but I’ll be less of an asshole than my own teacher was.”

Matt was sure that the kid had a grin a mile long. “Thank you thank you thank you! When, uh, when do we start? And how?”

He tilted his head, and decided that they should start without too many secrets in the air, like him and the other vigilantes. “I’m sure we can figure something out, Peter.”

The kid froze, and his heartbeat spiked. “Who’s Peter? My name’s Spider-Man.”

Matt checked the other two men were unconscious, and pulled his mask off with a smile. “I’m Matt.”

It was a completely different kind of shock that had Peter frozen this time. “Um, what? Why did you-”

“Because,” Matt said, “you have to have a damn good reason to be out here fighting. I know other vigilantes, and they’ve never let me down, but only because we’re honest with each other. If I’m going to train you, that needs to be the same.”

“Seriously?” Peter’s voice was hopeful again.

He nodded. “Might as well teach you how to throw an actual punch, at the very least. Now, come on. We still have to call the cops to collect these idiots before you bleed all over Hell’s Kitchen.”

Peter was probably grinning, based on his voice when he spoke. “Thanks, Mr. Matt! I won’t let you down!”

“Just Matt.” He glanced down at the two unconscious bodies and put his helmet back on. “Your webs. On the news, it said they’re pretty strong?”

“Oh! Of course, I almost forgot!” The excited vigilante stuck the criminals to the floor thoroughly, and pulled something out of a pocket. The smell of ink filled Matt’s nose, and he remembered the rumors Foggy mentioned of notes on criminals. “Hey, wanna sign it? Friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, plus spooky but awesome neighbourhood Daredevil?”

“I think I’m good,” Matt said, a bit of fondness already creeping in. The enthusiasm reminded him of Danny, a little. He fished his burner out of his suit, and called Brett. “A couple of criminals out here for you. Warehouse on tenth.” He hung up to the sound of the cop sighing, and grinned at Peter.

“Let’s get out of here.”

The teenager followed him over the rooftops, his upbeat attitude unaffected by the multiple slashes that were currently dripping on the Kitchen roofs. He peppered him with questions all the way back to his apartment. “So how long have you been doing this? I saw some articles a while back about you, but my best friend was more interested in them than I was. I mean, no offense! You were super cool! But I was rewatching Doctor Who and focusing on that, so I was kind of distracted. Hey, have you seen Doctor Who?”

Matt shrugged. “I watched Doctor Who with my best friend all throughout college. We haven’t done it as much since graduating, though. Not being roommates made it less convenient.”

“You’re still friends with them though, right?”

“Yeah.” he grinned. “We went through a rough patch, but it’s been about a year and a half since we figured stuff out. And it’s been a bit less than that since we reopened our firm.”

“You guys have a business together?” Peter sounded delighted.

“We’re here,” Matt said, welcoming the chance to distract the teen from his social life. “Keep quiet, though, we don’t want to wake him.”

He ushered him down the rooftop access staircase to head off the inevitable surge of questions about his relationship, and headed straight for the first aid kit. He pointed to the couch, and Peter obediently sat down.

“Nice apartment,” he whispered when Matt circled back with the kit. “How do you afford it?”

“The billboard’s really bright, and I make a living out of arguing. Shh. Can you take off just half of your costume?”

Peter poked a button on the front, and the top half of the suit loosened just enough for him to slip his arms and torso out. Matt calmly disinfected the two cuts on his back, and poked around the edges of the wound to judge the severity. “You’re right,” he muttered, “you do heal too fast for stitches”

“I told you!”

“Shh!”

“Sorry,” the teen said, lowering his voice again.

“You still need to do _something_ with it,” Matt scolded. “You can’t just leave it alone and hope for the best. I have some butterfly stitches to close them up.”

“I can usually sleep off a stab wound, this is nothing!”

Matt rolled his eyes and focused on the wound. “Healing factor or not, you’ll still need to keep this clean,” he said, sticking the last butterfly stitch to the wound. “Does anyone know who you are? They can help clean it.”

“My aunt, but she gets really worried when she sees me hurt,” he admitted, slipping the top of the suit back on. “I try to avoid letting her see.”

Matt winced at hearing his own thoughts echoed in the words of the teenager. “Don’t keep secrets from the people you love, Peter,” he advised.

“Do you?”

“I’m not a good role model. I’m here to teach you how to avoid getting killed and what not to do,” Matt pointed out.

The teen’s breathing and heartbeat sounded like he wanted to argue, but he just shrugged. “I think you’re pretty cool. You didn’t have to help me tonight, and you didn’t have to check on my scratches.”

Mat shrugged. “You’d better get home. But, how does Saturday sound, for training?”

“Great!” Peter said, perking up.

“Meet me at Fogwell’s gym at noon. I know the guy, he lets me in there even though it’s closed. Don’t forget to eat beforehand, you don’t want to run out of energy. Oh, and bring a water bottle,” he warned.

The teen was beaming, based on his voice when he spoke. “Yes! Okay! Thank you, I’ll see you then! Good luck with your business!” He bounced up the stairs and out the roof, and Matt heard him yell in excitement as he jumped off the roof and swung away. He made his way out of Matt’s range quickly, and Matt slumped against the couch in exhaustion.

When Foggy moved in, Matt had started going out in the suit less frequently. He didn’t mean to. It was just easier to tune out the rest of the city when Foggy’s heartbeat was next to him, healthy and relaxing. Still, he was going out three or so times a week, and tonight had been a later night than usual. He shed the heavy layers of armor and slipped into bed, taking care not to wake Foggy. There would be time to tell him, and Karen too, about his encounter with the wall-crawler tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the dragon AU, I'm messing with MCU events too because really, I love this franchise but I don't want to deal with the mess that Civil War made. Basically, in this timeline, someone with half a brain actually pointed out the flaws in the Sokovia Accords in legal-ese, and Peter got called in but didn't actually have to fight. This is set post-homecoming, and Peter still got into a bunch of chaos with the Vulture, but it wasn't so much "there's no one to talk to besides Tony" it was more Peter going "I don't want to bother the Avengers???? I'm sure they're busy, I'll just deal with this shit myself lol" (and then set Coney Island on fire)  
> I might go into more detail about my version of events in another fic in this series, but only if it becomes relevant.


	2. Ding Ding, Round Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker is going to find someone to train him if it's the last thing he does, dammit! In return, Matt is going to keep collecting people until New York stops producing vigilantes (so, never).

Peter stood in the ring, shifting uneasily. He sounded dubious. “You sure, man? I’ve got super strength. You want me to hit you?”

Matt grinned, letting his teeth look a little too sharp. From the sound of Peter’s heartbeat, it worked to unsettle him. “Go on. I’m a mugger and you’re out of webs. Try to stop me.”

Peter shrugged and swung at him. The move was telegraphed, but after the first two fists that Matt dodged, the teen tried harder. Matt didn’t do anything but dodge, and after about thirty seconds, Peter stopped. “Okay, point taken. So how do you  _ do _ that?”

“I just wanted to judge where you were at this point,” Matt explained. “Your form is pretty good, but you get into a pattern very quickly. I needed to tell what style to train you in, too. Personally, I use a blend of martial arts, with a foundation of boxing. You’re pretty acrobatic, so that’s what we’ll focus on. Let’s get started.”

An hour later, Peter lay on the floor of the ring, groaning.

“How are you so fast? Do you have super speed?”

Matt grinned, thinking of his dragon form, but he hadn’t been tapping into it. “You might be radioactive, but you still need to build up your speed and endurance. Don’t waste energy if you don’t have to.”

He grumbled something unintelligible, and sat up tiredly. “You were right, I do hate this,” he announced.

“Just think of it this way. If you start getting better,” Matt said, and paused. How much did he want to disclose?

“If I start getting better, what?”

In for a penny, in for a pound. “If you start getting better, to the point where I can’t beat you as a regular human against your enhanced strength and speed, I have a way to temporarily increase my own strength and speed so you can keep improving.”

Peter bounced back to his feet, distracted by this new tidbit about Matt’s powers. “Whoa, really? How?”

“I’m a dragon.”

His heartbeat spiked, and he sounded in awe. “Seriously? That’s so cool! Ned’s going to go nuts!”

Matt frowned. “You didn’t tell him who I was, did you?”

“No, I just told him Daredevil was going to train me.” Peter suddenly sounded worried. “Is it okay if I tell him you’re a dragon?”

Matt tilted his head. “Would he tell anyone?”

“Nah, he’s good with secrets. He hasn’t told anyone that I’m Spider-Man or anything.”

“Then go for it,” Matt shrugged. “I just want to keep an ace up my sleeve for an emergency, you know?”

Peter nodded. “I get it. So, wait, how does that work? You’re a  _ dragon _ !”

“Yeah,” Matt laughed. “My mom was a dragon. I can use it for a little boost in my human form, or I can change fully into a dragon.”

“Whoa.”

“Next time we’re somewhere a little more private, I’ll show you,” Matt promised. “I don’t want anybody on the street to see.”

Peter bounced on his feet. “Alright, let’s go again! Can you show me how to do that hold you did last time? I would have had to break my arm to get out of that one.”

Matt shook his head. “There’s a trick to breaking out of it. Here, this is how you do it,” he said, demonstrating. “Now try it on me.”

Peter did, and Matt pulled away easily. “That’s not quite it. Your right arm needs to be further down.”

The second time, he got it right, and Matt showed in slow motion how to break out of the grip. “See?” Peter caught him again, and Matt spun away at regular speed. “Nothing to it.”

He grabbed Peter, and the teen did his best, but Matt had a firm hold on him. HE offered some advice, and on the third try, Peter got free.

“I think I get it!”

Matt nodded. “It’s important to be able to break out of a grip with technique, not just brute strength. So far, your enhanced strength has helped you whenever your agility has failed, but one of these days, you might have to fight someone with the same strength as you.”

Peter let out a soft hum of agreement, and Matt tilted his head. “Wait, have you already?”

“I might have an open invitation to spar with Captain America,” he said hesitantly.

It was Matt’s turn to be surprised. “You can fight Captain America and you’re coming to  _ me _ for training?”

Peter crossed his arms. “They weren’t training me. Mr. Stark said he wanted to mentor me, but then he ignored me for months and months! I crashed a plane into Coney Island because he was too busy to pick up a phone! Besides, when Mr. Stark finally invited me to come train with the Avengers, he said I’d have to ditch Queens.”

He hesitated for a second, lost in the memory, but got back on track. “But you, you love Hell’s Kitchen! You  _ get _ what it’s like to be a street level vigilante! I just want to help my home. I don’t want to fight aliens or whatever. Plus, I’ve known you for less than a week and you’ve already taught me more than any of them did.”

Matt decided right there that the kid was going to be a part of his hoard. It was just a matter of time. “I barely know you, and I can tell that you’re going to be an amazing superhero. They’re all idiots.”

Peter’s voice sounded lighter when he spoke. “You think?”

“I know,” he replied decisively. “Let’s go again.”

“Wait, I had another question. How do you dodge when you’re not facing me?” the teen asked curiously.

Oh. “I’m blind.”

Peter’s heartbeat sped up- surprised? No, when he spoke, he just sounded excited. “Whoa! So that’s why you knocked out the lights in the warehouse! I figured you had to have some kind of night vision in the helmet, but this makes even more sense. So do you use echolocation?”

Matt nodded. “I have enhanced senses that help me build an idea of what’s around me.”

Some tension seeped out of Peter. “Holy shit, you can help me.”

“Isn’t that what I’ve been doing?” Matt asked in confusion.

“No, I mean- I have enhanced senses too. I haven’t been great at controlling them when I get stressed,” he explained. “You’ve obviously figured that stuff out.”

“Of course. Um, have you had moments of over-stimulation?” Matt asked, trying to remember how Stick taught him to control his senses.

Peter shrugged. “A few times it’s just gotten to be too much. Too bright, too loud, too . . . rattley?”

“What do you mean by rattley?”

“I looked it up after I got bit. Spiders are really sensitive to vibrations?” he said hesitantly. “I think that’s part of what I have. There’s too much movement here.”

Matt shoved down his follow-up questions about spiders and bites and focused on the part he could help. “Okay, that I can help with. Are you feeling the movement through the air or the ground?”

Peter paused, presumably feeling for the vibrations. “Ground?”

“Okay. Hop down and follow me. I’ll work with you on your senses other than vision for now. We’ll get those under control, and then if you get overstimulated, you can close your eyes.” Matt shrugged and led Peter towards an open area. “I’m not sure how much I can help with super good eyesight, but the other shit is what I’ve been handling for twenty years.”

He tilted his head thoughtfully at Peter, and went to go dig out some hand wraps, which he tossed over. “This is all I’ve got for a blindfold. Tell me if they’re too see-through. Do you have any headphones?”

Peter’s heartbeat sounded confused, but after a second, he gasped. “Wait. Is this like that scene in Star Wars on the Millenium Falcon with the droid and the lightsaber training?”

Matt shot him a grin. “Reach out with the Force, Luke.”

Peter went over to his duffle bag and pulled out a pair of headphones. He tied on the makeshift blindfold and his heartbeat ticked upwards in response to losing his vision. “Can’t see through them. So, I just put on the headphones and you throw stuff for me to dodge?”

“No. For now, you said you mostly get the vibrations through the ground. I think you probably can feel them in the air, too, but it’s getting drowned out in all the excess info you’re trying to process. We’ll see where it goes, but for now, you’ll be throwing things at me.”

Peter laughed at that, and nodded. “Anything else?”

“Here,” Matt said, setting a bin down in front of Peter. “Boxing gloves at your twelve o’ clock. And you might want to take off your shoes. Easier to feel the vibrations through the ground if you’ve got bare feet.”

The teen followed his instructions and slipped on the headphones. Matt caught the sounds of rain and thunderstorms as white noise, and tilted his head. “Can you still hear me?”

Peter nodded. “A little? I can hear your voice, but I can’t hear your breathing or anything like that.”

“Good. I won’t talk unless you hit me or I have something to correct you on. Focus on just sensing vibrations. Try to find me just by my footsteps.”

Matt stepped silently a little further away, and ten seconds later, Peter scooped up a few gloves. He shuffled his feet, looking for the impact of Matt’s steps, and threw the first glove. It didn’t land anywhere near Matt, but at least the teenager was facing the right general direction.

The second glove was a little closer, but the third one was nearly opposite where Matt was walking.

Peter took a deep breath, and Matt listened to his heartbeat slow down. The fourth one whistled right by his head, and he grinned. The fifth one would have smacked directly into his chest if he hadn’t caught it and sent it spinning back at the teen, who instinctively dodged it incoming glove.

Peter’s heartbeat spiked and he ripped off the headphones and blindfold. “Whoa!” he said in awe, “I felt it coming!”

Matt grinned at him proudly. “And the last one would have hit me if I hadn’t caught it. Nice job!”

He couldn’t see Peter’s expression, but he was pretty sure the teen was beaming.

They finally stopped training around four. Peter was exhausted, and Matt was pretty worn out himself. “You did really well,” he told the teenager.

Even though he was tired, Peter perked up at the praise like a plant in the sun. “Thanks! Can we do this again next Saturday?”

Matt nodded, and tilted his head in thought. “Do you do anything after school on Tuesday? You could come by our office and learn a bit of law. Enough to know your rights and what’s illegal, shit like that. Pretty useful to know if you're a vigilante.”

Peter picked up on where he was going with that. “And then after you’ve finished working for the day, I follow you on patrol and see how you work as a vigilante.” His heartbeat sped up in excitement at Matt’s nod, and he sounded thrilled when he spoke. “Yeah! That sounds great! You’re a lawyer?”

“I am,” Matt said with a laugh. “Got my degree and everything.”

“Except, can I do it on Wednesday? Tuesdays are AcDec days.”

He rolled his eyes fondly. “Nerd.”

“You went to college for seven years,” Peter reminded him.

“You’ve got me there,” he shrugged. “Oh, and you mentioned you told a friend you were getting trained? I already mentioned to my friends that I’m training you. I’m pretty sure they’d figure you out if you turned up at the office to unofficially intern. It’s up to you though.”

Peter hesitated. “You trust them?”

“With my life,” Matt reassured him. “But if you were uncomfortable with them knowing, I’m sure I could work out a way to get them to agree to an intern, it would just take a little while longer.”

He shook his head. “If you trust them, I can too. I don’t want you to have to lie to them.”

Matt grinned. “Good. Much less paperwork this way.”

“True! But um. I should probably get going,” Peter said reluctantly, glancing at the bag that had his Spider-Man suit. “It’s a twenty minute swing back to Queens.”

“Hey, write your number down on the notepad you carry around. I’ll text you the name and address later.”

Peter nodded and pulled the suit on, over his clothes. When he was ready to head out, he pulled the pen and paper out and jotted his phone number down. “Here you go! I’ll see you on Wednesday!”

Matt stuck the paper in his duffle bag as the kid slipped out the back door, and went back to his and Foggy’s apartment. 

“He’s got a lot of potential,” he said as he chopped vegetables for dinner. “I think that he’s going to learn fast.”

At the counter, Foggy set aside the case files he’d been reading to Matt while he cooked. “Hey, the more time you spend with someone on the streets, the better I feel about it.”

Matt winced. “Hey, can I invite him and his family over to dinner tomorrow?”

Foggy glanced up. “You’ve told him your identity? You told his  _ family _ your identity?”

“Is that a yes?” Matt said hopefully.

“Sure,” Foggy sighed. “Now, why is it so important that he comes over for dinner?”

“Well, Spider-Man’s kind of fifteen,” Matt said in a rush, “and I want his guardian to know who he’s spending time with.”

“He’s a teenager?” Foggy squawked in surprise.

“His aunt gave him permission! And isn’t stopping crime as a teen better than getting  _ into _ crime as a teen?”

Foggy sighed. “Technically, assault is still a crime.”

“Citizen’s arrest,” Matt cheerfully added, retreading the familiar argument. “Come on, Fogs, wouldn’t you rather he know how to fight than to get himself killed? He’s got superpowers, he’s going to do what he wants with them.”

“Fine. Yes,  _ please _ invite the aunt and the kid over. She deserves to know the kind of idiot training her nephew.”

Matt tipped the chopping board full of carrots into the soup, and shrugged. “I’ll text him the invitation. Can you put his number in my phone?”

Foggy nodded. “Where is it?”

“Duffle bag pocket. The paper with the number is next to it.”

He heard rustling, and a triumphant ‘aha!’. “What name?”

“Peter.”

“Done. Want me to call him?”

“I got it,” Matt said, leaving the soup to simmer for the moment. “I should be the one to talk to his aunt.”

He called Peter and listened to the phone ring once, twice, before the teen picked up. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Matt.”

“Matt!” he said happily. “I thought you were going to text?”

“I wanted to talk to your aunt about your training.”

It was hard to read people over the phone, but Peter sounded suspicious, like he expected Matt to tell May that the teen was in trouble. “Why?”

“She’s your guardian,” Matt explained, “and you’re a teenager meeting up with a grown man twice a week. Figured she’d probably be worried, even if she didn’t let on to you.”

Peter sounded like a lot of things slipped into place. “Oh. That’s why- okay. Yeah, sure, I’ll hand you over.”

Matt waited patiently, stirring the soup and enjoying the smell of cooking vegetables, when Peter’s aunt came onto the phone about thirty seconds later.

“You’re Daredevil?” she asked immediately, not hesitating to jump into the interrogation.

“Yes, ma’am. My name is Matthew Murdock,” he said diplomatically. “I’m training your nephew in how to fight, so he doesn’t get hurt out there. My partner and I wanted you to come over tomorrow evening for dinner, so you could get to know us and make sure you’re comfortable letting me train Peter. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you sooner, but I had to make sure Peter was willing to let my partner know his identity before I could invite you two over.”

He hoped that giving his name was a large enough sign of trust for her to let her guard down a bit. When she spoke, she still seemed protective, but not quite as hostile. “That sounds like a good idea,” she agreed. “When do you want us to get there?”

“Would sometime around six work for you?” he asked.

She agreed, and he gave her his address. “Do either of you have any allergies, or are you vegetarian?”

May laughed, for the first time. “Oh, no, we’re not vegetarian. I’m just allergic to strawberries.”

Matt grinned. “No strawberries. Got it. We’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

She handed the phone back to Peter, who went back into a different room. “Wow, she warmed up to you fast. I hope tomorrow goes well.”

“It’ll be fine,” Matt reassured him. He put the lid on the pot of soup and left it to its own devices. “I’ll see you then.”

“Bye!” Peter said cheerfully. He hung up, and Matt set his phone on the counter.

“So, Foggy, What do you think?”

His boyfriend aimed for exasperated, but fell short somewhere around ‘vaguely amused’. “I think you try to be so tough and scary, with your who Devil schtick, but you’re a softy who basically adopted the first baby vigilante you found.”

Matt opened his mouth to protest, but Foggy cut him off. “You’ve known him a grand total of four days and you’re already inviting him and his aunt over for dinner!”

He pouted at Foggy, who sighed. “Oh, that wounded duck face. Never can resist. Fine, you’re right,” he said with mock seriousness. “You would never do something as silly as care about someone.”

“I care about you,” Matt pointed out.

“And your new little dragonet.”

He rolled his eyes. “Foggy.”

“You're right, he’s not really a dragonet, more of a baby spider. Spiderette? Spider puppy? What  _ do _ you call a baby spider?” Foggy thought for a second, and snapped his fingers in realization. “A spiderling. That’s what it is.”

“Spider puppy? Seriously?” Matt laughed.

“Hey, don’t ask me, ask your little  _ spiderling _ . I’m sure he’s an expert in spiders.”

“Just because he picked that theme doesn’t mean he’s an expert!”

“Why  _ did _ he pick ‘spider’ as his go-to superhero idea? Seems a little unusual for a tiny colorful acrobat,” Foggy wondered.

Matt shrugged. “Dunno. Ask him tomorrow.”

“You can’t just ask someone about their powers!” Foggy said, his voice scandalized. “I don’t go around asking you about that chemical spill!”

“That was actually one of the first things you asked me about,” Matt said dryly.

“Okay, fine,” Foggy conceded.

They chatted for a little while longer before turning to their case files. There were a few pro bono cases, but most of them were billable hours, even if their prices weren’t outrageous. They’d agreed when reopening their office that they could help more people if they stayed open, and they had to stay open by actually billing their clients. In money, even, not just in peach cobbler and lasagna.

Still, Matt couldn’t resist taking on a few extra cases when he had the time, and Foggy liked to have something to work on while Matt cooked. It worked for them, and they discussed their defenses over steaming bowls of soup.

Matt couldn’t help but smile every time he thought about Nelson, Murdock, & Page. They’d started over without secrets, and set boundaries to make sure their business and friendship stayed afloat.

It helped that now Matt was more durable and could heal faster. Working together was much easier when the other two weren’t scolding him for fighting with broken ribs, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this gen, guys, I really did, but then last chapter I accidentally decided that Matt and Foggy moved in together, and this chapter I thought I would end the chapter and then produced another thousand words of domestic Matt and Foggy banter. That's life, I guess. It's fucking gay now.
> 
> The second thing is that I had a title for the fic all planned out and then the word "spiderling" got into my head and I had to change it. Foggy has a huge family and in this fic he will 100% think it's hilarious watching Matt "only child/fight everyone when he's a teen" Murdock be baffled at how to interact with a teenager. "Oh, you don't know what to do when your spiderling asks for advice on dealing with a crush instead of on fighting?" *laughs for three days straight*


	3. Now Socialize Like A Semi-Functional Adult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to bring in Aunt May! Foggy and Matt used 'Charm' and 'Cook'. It was super effective!

May Parker knocked on their door the next day at 6:07, with Peter in tow.

Matt answered the door with his best smile. “Hi! I’m Matt. You must be Ms. Parker?” he said, holding out his hand for her to shake.

She shook it energetically. “Call me May. I did some research on you, and I have to say, I’m impressed.”

Peter groaned. “She’s been talking about you and Mr. Nelson ever since she googled you. She’s very anti-gentrification, so all the work you two do in Hell’s Kitchen is her cup of tea,” he said by way of explanation.

“Speaking of Nelson! I’m here!” Foggy said as he left the bedroom. He directed his next words at Matt. “I swung by Karen’s place earlier and she showed me the research on Perry that she mentioned. I think we’ve got a pretty good chance at dismissing the charges if she can find the paperwork to back up her hunch.”

“Peter, May,” Matt said, gesturing at the other lawyer, “this is my partner, Foggy.”

“It’s good to meet you,” she said warmly. “I want to talk to you about how you keep Matt from getting himself killed.”

“A good first aid kit and an emergency plan,” he said with a shrug. “I can give you more detail later, but first, are you guys hungry? Matt made pasta.”

Peter perked up. “I’m always hungry.”

“Wow, you really are just like Danny,” Foggy said thoughtfully. “He’d probably be thrilled to meet you. Oh! Matt, we have to bring him to a game night sometime.”

“Game night?” the teen asked.

“I mentioned we’re friends with a few other local vigilantes, right?” At Peter’s nod, Matt explained. “Well, we get together weekly, and ever since we spent one evening playing board games, Foggy’s gotten the rest of us to call it game night. We mostly just eat and talk, though. We watch movies sometimes.”

Foggy jumped right into storytelling as he led them to the table. “We found out that Danny’s weird teen years meant that he spent like a decade without movies, so we’ve been trying to catch him up. It’s insane. Jess put her foot down and refused to talk to him until he’d caught up on every Disney movie that had come out while he was gone. I didn’t expect it from her, but I respect that decision. Only vigilante I respect at all, really.”

“What about Matt?” Peter asked, piling his bowl full of pasta. He passed the serving dish to his aunt, and started in on it.

Matt and Foggy burst into laughter. “Oh, anyone who spends time with me outside of the mask knows the truth.”

“He’s an absolute dumbass. You know that thing about how taste is fifty percent smell? Well, once, I got him some lavender to put around the house or in a sock drawer or something,” Foggy said fondly, “and he started eating it because it smelled nice. Got halfway through the leaves before I noticed and stopped him.”

“Plenty of fancy chefs put lavender in baked goods and stuff!” Matt protested. “We watch the bake-off together, you know this!”

Foggy sighed with the familiarity of someone who’d had the same argument a dozen times. “Matthew. Matty. Man of my dreams. They don’t just  _ eat the plant _ .”

May stifled a laugh, and Matt turned to her. “Have you ever cooked with lavender?” he asked desperately. One day, someone would say yes.

“Sorry, no. But wow,” she said, her voice still tinged with amusement. “You’re just  _ people _ .”

Peter whirled on his aunt, his heartbeat shocked. “Aunt May!”

“I think I understand,” Matt said with a shrug.

Foggy nodded his agreement. “Daredevil’s got a pretty scary rep. But really, he’s a grade-A idiot. It’s why Matt wanted you to come by for dinner.” He gestured at the table. “The news doesn’t say stuff like the lavender story, or that he’s a really good cook when he remembers to pay attention.”

“I think this is really going to work,” May said. Truth.

“I’ll do what I can. I’m glad I could help Peter. It sounds like the Avengers didn’t help much with the enhanced senses, but that’s one area I’ve got on lockdown,” Matt said with a smile.

“Is that how you can fight when you’re blind?”

“Yeah, I’ve got enhanced senses too. Peter’s already doing really well figuring out how to interpret vibrations.”

The teen straightened up. “It was so cool! I put on headphones and a blindfold and tried to figure out where Matt was in the room, and tossed boxing gloves at him! I actually hit him! Or, well, I would have if he didn’t catch it. But I dodged it, too! Without looking!”

May clearly hadn’t heard this before, and turned to Matt with interest in her voice. “You’re teaching him how to fight without vision or hearing?”

He shrugged. “I’m trying to teach him how to control his senses, and I figured I’d start with the one that seemed to be the biggest change. We’ll work our way through the others. Though, Peter might have to figure out his enhanced eyesight on his own.” He gave May a lopsided grin, and thankfully, she laughed instead of getting awkward.

Foggy used the lull in conversation to ask, “So, how did you get your superpowers?”

“I got bit by a funky spider,” Peter said casually. “My class was touring Oscorp and I snuck into a more experimental area with a friend to look at the actually cool stuff. Turns out a spider they were experimenting on got loose, and, well. Radioactive chemicals are crazy, dude.”

Matt laughed. “Don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, gesturing at his eyes.

Foggy sighed. “You know, you guys should form a club. The ‘I might be radioactive but at least I don’t glow in the dark’ club. Jess too.”

“Danny glows in the dark,” Matt pointed out.

“But he didn’t have weird radioactive chemicals. He punched a dragon in the heart.”

Matt mouthed the words with him, and the heartbeats of the Parkers sped up a notch. “Was it you?” Peter blurted.

May’s heartbeat spiked again when he answered. “No, different dragon. You didn’t tell her?”

“When would I have? It’s not like dragons are a common thing around here!”

Matt tilted his head. “I mean, we’ve got the space in here. Wanna see?”

“Yes!” Peter said, his voice and heartbeat thrilled. “Duh! Who would say  _ no _ to that?”

Matt got up from the table and closed the curtains, before slipping into his dragon form. He carefully stepped over the couch and chairs, and rumbled happily at the table they were eating at.

The Parker's hearts were racing, and Matt grinned toothily at them. “See? Dragon.”

He transformed back and sat back down, waiting for the stream of questions. Peter didn’t disappoint. “So how long have you known how to do that? Do you know any dragons other than your mom? That’s so cool. Can you breathe fire?”

“About a year and a half. Yes, I know one other dragon. And yes, I can breathe fire.” He let a little bit of smoke curl out of his nostrils, and was pleased when Peter gasped in excitement.

May seemed satisfied when she spoke. “I don’t think Peter could have a better teacher than a dragon.”

Matt was a little lost for words, and Foggy laughed. “Careful, Catholics don’t know what to do with positive reinforcement.”

“You’re Catholic?” May said curiously. “Then why all the devil imagery?”

“The media picked the name, so when I got my suit, I went with the theme. I didn’t have a spider bite to base my theme around,” Matt said with a shrug. “I’ve heard it looks pretty scary in a dark alley.”

“Yeah, Ned dug up some of the security camera footage. You’re kinda spooky,” Peter added. The alleged spookiness didn’t seem to be dampening his spirits.

Foggy groaned. “Don’t be too nice. You’ll undermine the others. Jessica makes fun of him relentlessly for adding lil horns to his helmet.”

“She calls them ears,” Matt said grumpily.

“You should rebrand,” Peter said helpfully. “Dragons have horns, and they’re way cooler.”

They chatted for the rest of the evening, and at the end, Matt pulled May aside. Foggy and Peter were laughing in the kitchen, and barely even noticed that the other two weren’t there anymore.

“Did you have any other questions?” he asked quietly. “I know this vigilante stuff can be kind of scary.”

May shook her head. “I think it’ll be good for him to follow someone who’s been doing this for a while. You haven’t gotten yourself killed yet, so that’s pretty good.”

“Here’s my number, don’t hesitate to call or text if you have anything else to talk about,” Matt said, handing over a piece of paper.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice genuine. “And don’t worry, I think you’ll do a good job.”

“What?” he asked in confusion. “Why do you say that?”

She patted his arm. “I’m telling you this because you seem like you’re scared of fucking up, but trust me, you’re doing great. You really care about him already, and you’re good with him. He’s so excited about what he learned yesterday, and you two have only met up once!”

“Thanks. I’ll make sure he knows how to fight,” he assured her.

“But that’s not all you’re doing! You’re inviting him to your office, and talking about bringing him to your game nights. You’re giving him a superhero support network,” she explained.

Matt shrugged. “He’s a good kid.” He tilted his head to listen, and nodded back at the kitchen. “They’re wrapping up their conversation, we should probably head back over.”

The Parkers left shortly after, and Matt curled up against Foggy on the couch. “What did you think of them?”

“I think they’ll fit right in,” he said warmly. “Peter’s going to be part of your hoard, isn’t he?”

“I think so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a few really good fics that I read that included Matt mentoring Peter. Introducing Peter to the dragon au was definitely inspired by them and some others floating around (sorry I can't remember all of them) but I'm doing my best to keep things original. Definitely go read them, they're really good!   
> -"Antichrist Verse" series, by CrescentBlues: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20943335  
> -"Inimitable Verse" series, by deniigiq: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14906117/chapters/34525361  
> -"The Teenage Vigilante's Guide" series, by candlesneedflame: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504579/chapters/41232743  
> I'll probably keep writing down a few fic recommendations each chapter unless someone tells me to stop. these writers fucking rock, guys.


End file.
